The Coronavirus Thread

[JimC]

That's very kind of you L'Emmy, but I feel it's not just impacted my physical stamina but my mental resources too. Then again, I'm not as young as I used to be - even though COVID knocked me sideways for a few months perhaps it's just a coincidental, age-related slow down.

I haven’t noticed.

Maybe none of us have noticed Brian's decline because we're all cognitively impaired by Covid!

[Brian Peacock]

New Covid variant causing concern among scientists detected in London

A new Covid variant that is causing concern among scientists due to its large number of mutations has been detected in London.

The variant, named BA.2.86, has been detected through genetic sequencing, although only a handful of such sequences have so far been reported. The first was reported in Israel, with the variant since being detected in Denmark and the US.

The UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) confirmed on Friday that the variant had been detected in the UK.

Dr Meera Chand, the deputy director of UKHSA, said: “We are aware of one confirmed case in the UK. UKHSA is currently undertaking detailed assessment and will provide further information in due course.”

According to a risk assessment published on Friday by UKHSA, the UK case had no recent travel history, suggesting established international transmission and a degree of community transmission within the country – with more information on UK transmission expected in the next week or two.

It said the similarity of the genetic sequences in different countries implied a relatively recent emergence and rapid growth, although this remained a tentative analysis given the small number of sequences. At present, the agency said, there was not enough data to assess the relative severity or degree of immune escape of BA.2.86 compared with other variants in circulation.

The World Health Organization announced on Thursday it was designating BA.2.86 a “variant under monitoring” – while the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has similarly reported it is keeping a close eye on the variant after it was discovered in Michigan...

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/ ... -in-london

[Tero]

Vaccine seems to work
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/09/06/moderna ... riant.html
I wonder about the trials. It's much harder to catch covid now. Would need a good size sample of volunteers.

[NineBerry]

You don't need big trials for updated vaccines. Trials are done with animals and cell cultures. That's enough.

[Brian Peacock]

Seems to be an uptick in the number of people wearing masks recently. Can see three in my carriage atm. Wonder if it coincides with an increase in news stories, or encounters with the virus in the wildˀ

[JimC]

Bron and I no longer wear masks, except some medical clinics still require them. You see the occasional mask wearer here and there...

[Woodbutcher]

Bron and I no longer wear masks, except some medical clinics still require them. You see the occasional mask wearer here and there...

Same here. I mean in Thunder Bay, out here in the countryside there is no need. And I don't have any close friends anyway, aside from some cats and a dog...

[Tero]

Our county is going to a peak of a few hundred cases per week.
"There were 185 cases reported for week ending Nov. 11 compared to an average of 113 per week over the last four weeks, LLCHD said."
Population of 300 000

[Tero]

A guy on one of my Finnish forums quotes a Dr Makary who is a favorite on Fox. Antigovernment dude whose campaign is "masks don't work."

Makary has been debunked.On the other hand putting masked and unmasked people in a room with an infected person (you have to get one that does not look very sick!) has not been done.

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/ ... formation/

one of the studies, including masks of all quality
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8714203/
it cut the risk to half when both patient and doctor were masked

[Tero]

Texas sues Pfizer. False advertising! Vaccine not 95% effective but 85%. Texas and those vaccinated there paid none of the vaccine. Texas provided the help to vaccinate, so the nurses and so on.
https://news.yahoo.com/pfizer-sued-texa ... 34093.html

[Tero]

A guy on one of my Finnish forums quotes a Dr Makary who is a favorite on Fox. Antigovernment dude whose campaign is "masks don't work."

Makary has been debunked.On the other hand putting masked and unmasked people in a room with an infected person (you have to get one that does not look very sick!) has not been done.

https://healthfeedback.org/claimreview/ ... formation/

one of the studies, including masks of all quality
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8714203/
it cut the risk to half when both patient and doctor were masked

I made some edits to the Wikipedia article. At least one line stayed.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:Marty_Makary

[L'Emmerdeur]

This thing has been bad news all along.

'Every COVID Infection Increases Your Risk of Long COVID, Study Warns'

Vaccines ensure bouts of COVID are far less deadly than they were at the pandemic's start, yet multiple studies now suggest even seemingly mild cases of the coronavirus have a cost. With every single infection, our risk of long COVID increases.

While this risk starts (relatively) low for most of us, particularly those vaccinated and in younger people or children, there are concerning signs it may not stay low. If each new invasion of our bodies allows this insidious virus a greater chance to cause damage, such small risks will eventually add up to a big one.

Even if you only experience the symptom of the initial infection mildly.

"Each subsequent COVID infection will increase your risk of developing chronic health issues like diabetes, kidney disease, organ failure and even mental health problems," physician Rambod Rouhbakhsh warned journalist Sara Berg in an American Medical Association podcast earlier this year.

"This dispels the myth that repeated brushes with the virus are mild and you don't have to worry about it. It is akin to playing Russian roulette."

[rasetsu]

I came down sick this week. Thankfully it wasn't covid.

[Sean Hayden]

Supposedly there are more cases now than when it was ‘still a thing’ —weird

[Brian Peacock]

I know 3 people who've had it in the last 2 weeks.